Meet Our Minister Rev. Khleber Van Zandt V

I am so happy to be serving the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice as its first-ever settled minister. Previously, I served for ten years as minister to the First Unitarian Church of Alton, Illinois, and before that, ran a construction business while raising a family in St. Louis, Missouri.

Reared in Texas, I received engineering degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington, then moved to St. Louis where I got involved in business and the community as well as the local Unitarian Universalist church. My lay leadership in that church led me to enter the ministry and attend Eden Theological Seminary near my home in St Louis.

My wife Linda and I have seven children between us, spread all across the continent in CA, MI, MO, PA, and TX. Despite our geographical remoteness, we are a close-knit bunch and find the time to get together whenever we can.

Linda and I are brand-new to this area, but in our short time here we have found the people of UUCOV to be as warm and welcoming a group of folks as there is. They are people who have decided to make this their spiritual home, and with good reason: there is evident in this place an openness to diversity coupled with a call to action to live out our liberal faith.